Oleksandr Usyk terminated Anthony Joshua’s reign as world heavyweight champion with a stunning unanimous points decision victory in front of the Londoner’s home fans on Saturday, putting a stop to hopes of a ‘Battle of Britain’ unification battle with fellow world title-holder Tyson Fury. The cheers of a crowd of almost 66,000 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were no match for Joshua’s skills as he finished the 12th and final round of the fight backed up on the ropes. In only the former undisputed cruiserweight world champion’s third encounter as a heavyweight, the remarkable Ukrainian won 117-112, 116-112, and 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards.
Usyk became only the third boxer after Evander Holyfield of the United States and Britain’s David Haye to capture both the cruiserweight and heavyweight world titles with his victory, which improved his flawless professional record to 19 wins from 19 matches.
Boxing fans have long anticipated a fight between Joshua and British compatriot Fury, who will defend his World Boxing Council heavyweight title against Deontay Wilder in Las Vegas next month. This will be the third time the pair has fought, with a split-decision draw and a victory for Fury in the previous two bouts.
But Joshua had to beat Usyk, the 2012 Olympic heavyweight champion, who also won the super-heavyweight gold medal in the London Games.
“This means a lot for me. The fight went the way I expected it to go. There were moments when Anthony pushed me hard but it was nothing special,” said Usyk, who now follows brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko in becoming a Ukrainian world heavyweight champion, via a translator.
“I had no objective to knock him out because my corner pushed me not to do that. In the beginning, I tried to hit him hard, but then I stuck to my job.”
There is a rematch clause, as Joshua had previously lost his belts when beaten by Andy Ruiz in New York in June 2019, only to reclaim them six months later in a rematch in Saudi Arabia. Joshua has now won 24 and lost two of his career bouts.
Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, told Sky Sports: “I spoke to him (Joshua) and it was a tough fight.” He’s heartbroken.
“Congratulations to Oleksandr Usyk… He put in a great performance and the better man won.
“(Joshua) never really got going, he will go to hospital now, I don’t know if he has broken his eye socket, it doesn’t look great.”
But Hearn added: “The fighter in AJ is already talking about winning the rematch.”
Joshua later tweeted, writing: “Keep positive even if the world’s crumbling in front of you! London I love you & thank you each and every time!”
Despite his setback, Lennox Lewis, a former three-time world heavyweight champion, supported him to bounce back.
“Gotta give it up to @usykaa on a great tactical performance tonight. For @anthonyjoshua it’s not the end of the road, but u can’t be so tentative or wait till the 8th round to turn it on. Learn from this and improve,” Lewis tweeted.
Usyk is three years Joshua’s senior, and he was also losing three inches in height and about 20 pounds (nine kilogrammes) in weight.
During a lengthy ring walk, Joshua appeared relaxed as he shook hands with supporters.
But Usyk fought well from the start, and in the third round, the southpaw stunned Joshua with a hard left-hand blow to the head.
Usyk’s left hand remained lethal throughout a fight in which a slimmed-down Joshua did not look to gain anything in the way of ring speed while also missing punching power.
There was swelling under Joshua’s right eye towards the end of the tenth round.
When the final bell rang, Usyk had backed Joshua towards the ropes and appeared to be on his way to a knockout.
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